Election letter: Reject aquatic center

As much as I would love an aquatics center for my family and the rest of the families of the Tri-City area, this proposal from the Tri-Cities Regional Public Facilities District (TCRPFD) is not the right way to do it. The reason they want to raise our sales tax to pay for the center is because it is estimated that it will lose $400,000 every year, and our sales tax hike is expected to cover that gap. It is irresponsible to build an amenity like this aquatics center if it can't even make enough money to be operational, on its own.

Also, this sales tax hike isn't temporary, it is permanent, so if this aquatics center is built and then flops, we will still be paying a higher sales tax. There needs to be a better way to fund this. The TCRPFD is on the right track, but it needs to go back to the drawing board and propose an aquatics center that at least breaks even every year.

Vote NO on the aquatic center and let's try to build a regional aquatic center that doesn't force a permanent tax hike and can pay for itself.